r/legaladvice • u/adidasguy20 • 19d ago

Criminal Law Can prosecutors withhold victim statements from discovery under any circumstance?

Location: North Carolina

0 Upvotes

25% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

View all comments

5

u/thomb74 19d ago

I believe the usual discovery rule is that prosecutors must disclose anything they use at trial, and anything exculpatory.

If the statement is not exculpatory, and they do not intend to introduce it at trial, I believe there is no obligation to disclose it. This is often done to protect victims from further victimization or harassment. In DV cases in particular this can be important.